The Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses in 2022

The Ascent is a Motley Fool service that rates and reviews essential products for your everyday money matters. We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.

If ZipBooks sounds like a good fit for your business, use the free plan to take the software for a spin. If you’re a freelancer looking for a way to manage your finances and taxes, QuickBooks Self-Employed could be a good option for your business. The software is easy to use, and the QuickBooks app allows for quick access to your data. QuickBooks Online offers four pricing plans ranging from $30/month to $200/month. The larger the plan, the more features you can access, and the more users you can have.

The highlights of ouraccounting app

Good accounting software should be easy to use, have affordable pricing, and have enough features to handle all your accounting needs. Here are nine of the best small business accounting software options that meet these needs, including Xero, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and more. The Starter package is aimed at sole traders, contractors and small businesses.

As a small business owner, you’re selling something, whether it’s antique bubble gum machines or your expertise as a pig farmer. Either way, the only way you’ll make any money is if you invoice your customers. Xero is a program that both small business owners and accountants utilize. This online program can be utilized through mobile devices, like Kashoo, as well as via computer. If accounting isn’t your strength or even if it is and you want to save time, read on to see which accounting software is right for your small business. Accounting software is used by 64.4% of small business owners, which is good because 60% of small business owners admit to not being knowledgeable about finances or accounting.

What features should I look for in accounting software?

Rebecca Freedman, owner of Conscious Accounting, is a Certified Public Accountant and business consultant who has a passion for making accounting fun and approachable for business owners. From financial accounting to tax compliance, ProfitBooks makes everything easy for your business. No advanced financial statement generation that would be available with apps designed specifically for small businesses.

Zoho Books takes accounting automation into the next century, and Sage Business Cloud Accounting is a super affordable, user-friendly pick for budget-conscious business owners. The most crucial accounting need for most service-based businesses is invoicing. FreshBooks offers more customizations for invoicing compared to other accounting software.

Best Accounting Software for Freelancers: FreshBooks

It has tools to automate and organize your bookkeeping and accounting solutions and requires no prior accounting knowledge. You can automatically create and send invoices, accept online payments, and view business reports. As you move up through the pricing tiers, you get more features, invoices, and accounting management tools. Xero supports unlimited users at every price plan, where many other accounting software solutions don’t.

• More complex companies can add advanced tools that include projects and proposals, mileage and time tracking, and reports.
• QuickBooks has been around a long time, and the software has only gotten better over the years.
• If ZipBooks sounds like a good fit for your business, use the free plan to take the software for a spin.
• Its latest cloud-based release was in 2019, but it also offers separate desktop options you can purchase and download.
• When you need to reference a customer in a transaction, it will appear in a list.
• If you’re in business, or even if you just want to keep on top of your financial affairs, it’s likely you’ll encounter both bookkeeping and accounting.
• You’ll need to sign up with a payment processor such as PayPal or Stripe .

It also lines up with Wave’s additional resources, providing you with an all-in-one solution if you opt to invest in its other products. Wave also includes good bill payment capability, as well as the option to upload receipts directly to Wave for easy expense management. You can connect all of your bank accounts directly to Wave, and an automatic reconciliation feature is included in the application for easy month-end bank reconciliation.

Small-Business Grants: Where to Find Free Money

Sage comes at a monthly cost of $29.95 per month, with customer service being a part of this cost. “The significant advantage of Wave is its free accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning services,” says Mark Stewart, in-house CPA for Step By Step Business, a small business education platform. “This program supports freelancers’ accounting needs.” Stewart also notes that with Wave you can run multiple businesses on one account. QuickBooks is one of the more versatile accounting software available for small business owners. Zoho Books is the best small business accounting software for small businesses. Xero stands out with its intuitive dashboard that makes inventory management easy. Apart from its cloud version, Xero also has iPhone and Android versions.

We love how they’re constantly evolving and improving their platform, which is a major reason Xero nears the top of our best for small businesses accounting tools review. Make a list of “must-haves” for your accounting software along with some “nice to have” features so as you’re researching your options, you’ll be able to narrow them down more easily. Automated late payment reminders save you from keeping track of who’s paid when.

More features of ourAndroid accounting app

If you’re a small- to medium-sized business that needs help streamlining payroll and entering payment data, you might consider investing in OnPay. That’s not to say the rest of its features aren’t impressive — it’s just to say that the solution fits businesses interested in a payroll-centric solution particularly well.

• We chose Zoho Books as our best small business accounting software for automation because it offers robust accounting features and automation for bank feeds, categorizing, invoices, and more.
• With these new features, FreshBooks is now a top choice for sole proprietors and freelancers looking for complete bookkeeping capability.
• The larger the plan, the more features you can access, and the more users you can have.
• Good accounting software should be easy to use, have affordable pricing, and have enough features to handle all your accounting needs.
• The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.

To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. However, if you choose the Lite plan, it will only work on one Android device. Though not as ubiquitous as QuickBooks, many accountants are familiar with Xero. QuickBooks can be challenging to learn if you don’t have an accounting background. Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox. 12 Surprising Benefits Business Owners Found Using Payroll Software Unless your business is a one-person show, payroll is a necessary task that can be…

Which small business accounting software is best for you?

VT Software is therefore really useful for small business owners, particularly those working for themselves who don’t need a more sophisticated cloud-based accounting bundle. Its Standard plan comes with even more support options, custom fields, reporting tags and bulk updates for $10 per organization per month, billed annually. Its Professional plan costs $20 per organization per month , and includes bills, vendor credits, purchase approval, stock tracking and price lists. The Premium plan is $30 per organization per month and comes with a custom domain, vendor portal, budgeting and validation rules. Wave offers a free invoicing app for small businesses to help you track your revenue. It is free to download and use, as is Wave’s full accounting software. You can also use the app to create and send invoices, reconcile bank transactions, and view any available bills.

Tipalti automates the accounts payable process, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business. The solution can streamline international payment processing in around 190 countries, automate your payment operations, and even make sure you’re tax compliant. That’s not to say that the software’s bookkeeping for small business other features aren’t impressive — but if you’re primarily in the market for an exceptional inventory management solution, check OneUp out. So to help you find the resource that will work best for you, we’ve compiled a list of the best small business accounting software on the market.